Watch protector



y 5, 1951 w. R. HOLDER 2,553,089

WATCH PROTECTOR Filed June 25, 1947 I 11 z/entar Wilbur/1 R. Holder Patented May 15, [951 k UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WATCH PROTECTOR Wilburn R. Holder, Winston-Salem, N. 0.

Application June 25, 1947, Serial No. 757,021

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a protector shield which is expressly adapted for use in association with wrist watches and which is adapted and constructed for use with both mens and womens watches, the same being, in broad aspects, similar to analogous protectors disclosed in similar prior patents.

It is a matter of common knowledge that wrist watches and retaining straps therefor are subject to injury and defacement, particularly when worn while working, and particularly when subjected to scratching or marring. Wrist watches are also open to impairment due to accumulation and depositing on the watch and watch parts of injurious moisture, dust, dirt and similar extraneous matter. For such reasons various types of protective-shields have been offered to wrist watch wearers.

Without attempting to describe the above stated development of the art or to allude to prior patents by specific patent numbers, I direct at tention, at the outset, to the fact that one object of the present invention is to provide a unique protector which is possessed of certain features of refinement and distinction which, additively, provide an accessory which is structurally and otherwise different from types of protectors which are currently known to me.

More specifically, the invention relies for novelty upon a simple, economical and practical protector which is fashioned from plastics or at the same time offering protection to said parts while being worn in danger areas.

In reducing to practice the preferred embodiment of the invention, I have evolved and produced a transparent protector which is charac terized by a centrally disposed encasement or shield proper, and a pair of complemental resilient claw-like limbs, the latter serving to partially house or encase the adjacent strap-ends and also serving as the ways and means of bolding the protector in place when its use is desired.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a protector constructed in accordance with my ideas and showing the manner in which the same is, in practice, used;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the protector per se;

Figure 3 is a central longitudinal sectional view through the protector seen in Figure 2; and,

Figure 4 is a transverse or cross sectional view taken centrally through the protector.

Referring now to the drawings by distinguishing reference numerals the protector, in a unitary structural sense, is denoted by the numeral 5 and is fashioned from properly molded or other Wise formed, plastic material of appropriate transparent character. The molded or finished device is of one-piece formation and is characterized by three complemental parts chiefly, an open bottom substantially rectangular shell 6 which functions as an enclosure or encasement for the wrist watch as shown in Figure 1. Ex-- tending from opposite transverse ends of the encasement are arcuately bent attaching and retaining limbs 1 and these are of snap-on form and are sufficiently resilient to stay in place once they are snapped around the wrist of the wearer. The arms 1 are duplicate in construction and each arm is channel-shaped in cross section and the free end portions 8 are tapered in transverse width as shown. In addition, the channels are shallow toward the free ends and the edge portions of the shallow flanges are rolled into stiffening beads 9 which provide the desired reinforcement properties.

It is understood that the protector, in a unitary structural and functional sense, is inherently possessed of a degree of resiliency that the desired self retaining properties are thus had. The protector may be snapped on or removed with expediency and, once applied, it remains in place. The watch and coacting portions of the wrist band or strap simply reside freely in the arms I and encasement 6. These parts are not snapped on the watch and wrist band but are snapped on the wrist of the wearer and therefore simply house the watch and band. The fact that the parts of said, protector are transparent, particularly the part 6, makes it possible to see the dial of the watch at all times. Also, a device of such transparent nature is not only useful but outstandingly ornamental.

It is submitted that a protector of the type herein shown and described will be highly useful in that it will prevent injury to the watch by preventing the breaking of its crystal, or injury to delicate and vulnerable parts. What is more, a device of the kind shown will minimize the depositing on the watch or watch parts of dirt, dust, and extraneous matter; moisture and rain for example. The shield has been shown to have properties to prevent the watch works from becoming magnetized when one is working within the vicinity of certain kinds of shop machinery. Actually when the device is sufficiently snug fit ting, it virtually keeps the watch from getting wet while bathing or Washing ones hands, washing the dishes or performing other similar tasks.

It is to be noted that the box-like encasement portion is of a greater depth than the channel shaped arms. Or, to put it otherwise, the arms are considerably shallower than the part 6, this for ornamentation and neatness.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the invention as i1- lustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit and novelty sufficient to clarify the construction of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, What claimed as new is:

1. A bracelet-type wrist watch protector of the class described comprising one-piece shield means constructed of semi-rigid transparent resilient material and embodying an open bottom shell constituting an encasement for a wrist watch and further embodying a pair of arcuate arms connected together by said shell and defining therewith a substantially C-shaped bracelet,

said shell being substantially rectangular in form and said arms being channel-shaped in crosssectional form and adapted to fit over and enclose coacting portions of a wrist watch strap and longitudinal edges of said arms being rolled and providing reinforcing wrist-embracing and retaining beads.

2. A bracelet-type wrist watch and strap protector of the class described comprising a onepiece plastic bracelet embodying a rectangular open bottom shell constituting a protective case for a wrist watch and embodying a duplicated pair of arcuate arms communicatively connected at their respective inner ends to the transverse ends of said shell, said arms being channelshaped in cross-sectional form and adapted to fit over and to protectively enclose coacting portions of a wrist watch strap, the longitudinal edges of the respective arms being rolled and providing reinforcing wrist-embracing and retaining beads, said arms being resilient, said arms, compared to said shell, being relatively narrow and shallower than the shell and said arms gradually decreasing in width from their points of junctural connection with the shell toward their free terminal ends.

WILBURN R. HOLDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,189,096 Alonge Feb. 6, 1940 2,344,136 Dressen Mar. 14, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 86,244 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1921 

